Putin thanks Hamas for 'humanitarian act' in meeting with Russian national released from Gaza 

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Wednesday to exhaust all efforts to secure the release of all captives held by Palestinian resistance in Gaza, Anadolu agency reported.

Meeting in the Kremlin with Russian- Israeli dual national Aleksandr Trufanov and his family, who was released in February, Putin credited Russia’s longstanding ties with the Palestinian people for enabling Trufanov’s release.

“Certainly, we’ll do everything possible to replicate such successes frequently, ensuring that all those still suffering similar hardships regain their freedom,” Putin said.

Expressing gratitude to Palestinian group Hamas for releasing Trufanov, Putin made no political assessment of the broader situation in the region.

“I think we have to express gratitude to the political leadership of Hamas for listening to our appeal and committing this humanitarian act — you were freed. I would like to congratulate you over that,” he said.

Israel believes 59 captives are held in the Gaza Strip, 24 of them are still alive, while more than 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in Israeli prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian human rights and media reports.

Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza have released dozens of living and dead Israeli captives in batches in return for releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire- prisoner swap deal that entered into force on January 19, 2025.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been committing genocide in the besieged Palestinian Strip, killing and wounding more than 167,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 14,000 missing under the rubble.

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